But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. How we check

Destiny Clayton

Green · U.S. House, Michigan District 9
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How this mark works

We track key votes on sending U.S. weapons and money to the government of Israel. A check means every tracked vote they cast came down against sending more, on the side of peace and de-escalation. A question mark means a mixed record: they sided with sending up to half of the time. An X means they voted to send more weapons and money in over half of their tracked votes, even as the way those weapons and dollars were being used became more and more obvious. At exactly half, money this election cycle from a lobbying group we track, or an endorsement from a group that backs sending weapons, makes it an X. Only votes actually cast are counted. Where a candidate has no recorded votes on these bills, the mark comes instead from a reviewed reading of their public record (money from the lobbying groups we track, endorsements, and their own words since January 26, 2024). There an X also covers fully backing the conduct of the war by the government of Israel without significant reservations, and a question mark also covers speaking about Israel without saying clearly where they stand on U.S. weapons and funding. A dash means No Position Found: we found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.

See a dash? Ask the candidate where they stand, then send us their answer and we'll review it and update the mark. Or volunteer to help review candidates.

No recorded votes on the bills we track. We found nothing in their own words about Israel, Gaza or the war.

Clayton has not spoken publicly on U.S. weapons or money for the government of Israel, or on U.S. aid to Palestinians. No statement was found in source-checked research across 6 sources.

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Deep Dive

6 sources checked and read, every one listed on the research page. Most candidates at this level have simply never been asked.

You are better placed to change that than we are. Ask Clayton directly, or at a candidate forum, and send us the reply: it goes on this page in their own words, which is worth more than anything we could write about them.

Research log

The notes behind this card: what we looked at, what we found, and where each item came from.

What was looked for, and what came back

  • **U.S. military aid and weapons to Israel:** There are no specific, documented public statements or actions from Destiny Clayton explicitly detailing a personal policy stance on U.S. military aid or weapons transfers to Israel.
  • **Characterization of the conflict:** Material returned; set out in full below.
  • **Rhetoric and lobbying:** Material returned; set out in full below.
  • **Safety and antisemitism:** On December 13, 2025, Clayton addressed the definition of antisemitism in a Facebook post, arguing that criticism of Zionism or Israeli state actions does not constitute antisemitism.

What an initial search did return, on the other questions

The card's claim is about what the United States sends, and that question came back empty. These questions did return material. It is reproduced word for word so nothing found is lost, and it is context rather than a position on U.S. weapons or money. Em dashes are rendered as hyphens to satisfy house style; no wording is changed.

### Characterization of the conflict On December 13, 2025, Clayton posted on Facebook regarding the political and ideological nature of the conflict, framing Zionism as a distinct political movement separate from Jewish religious faith. She wrote: *"Judaism is a religion. Zionism is a modern political ideology. They are not interchangeable, they don't share the same belief system, and pretending they do is historically and theologically wrong"*. In the same post, she compared conflating the two to asserting that one *"couldn't criticize Nazis without attacking Christians just because they claimed to be Christian"*.

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### Rhetoric and lobbying In October 2025, Clayton publicly addressed Michigan Democratic Party Chair Curtis Hertel Jr. in a Facebook post, urging the party to amend its bylaws to prohibit Democratic candidates in Michigan from accepting money from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) or its affiliated organizations.

On July 14, 2026, in a Facebook post announcing her candidacy for Congress in Michigan's 9th District, Clayton criticized pro-Israel lobbying groups - specifically mentioning AIPAC and Christians United for Israel (CUFI) - accusing them of using political funding to influence American elected officials to prioritize foreign interests over their constituents.

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Sources consulted and read (6)

Not found

  • No position located on U.S. weapons, arms sales or military funding for the government of Israel.
  • No position located on U.S. aid to Palestinians, UNRWA or Gaza humanitarian funding.
  • This is a record of what was checked on 2026-08-11, not a claim that no statement exists anywhere.

Also in this race

  1. ✗ Lisa C. McClain (Republican)
  2. ✓ Ray Pooley (Democrat)
  3. – Kevin Vayko (Libertarian)
  4. ? Jim Walkowicz (Other)
  5. – John Vlahos (Other)

All Michigan candidates.

But What Can You Do? tracks where 2026 candidates stand on U.S. weapons and funding for the government of Israel. Every claim on this page goes through at least two verification steps. Open Find Your Candidates for votes, funding and contact details.